Fantasy Hockey 2011: News Snippits

I am currently prepping for the Fantasy Hockey Scouts Alpha League auction draft tonight so this might be a bit short but this is pretty much me responding to news snippits about players around the league between injuries, how hot a player is or other things going on. Without further ado...

Evgeni Malkin, Penguins - Big buzz is that he's already playing like there's no tomorrow. He's produced 2 goals and 3 assists in two preseason games thus far and says that all systems are still a go. I had him ranked #18th forward but seeing him play gives me new hope in him. Given that his Yahoo ADP is at 15.5, I feel confident enough to take him in the middle of the 2nd round at least.

Antti Niemi, Sharks - Out of nowhere news that Niemi had some cysts removed a week ago and his status for the season opener was in doubt. Now he's practicing with pads but he still remains uncertain to play in the opener. I wouldn't downgrade him since this sounds like he might miss a couple of games but he should be alright for the rest of the games.

More after the jump...

Sidney Crosby, Penguins - While Malkin has been playing well, Crosby has been practicing. People observing have noted that he's been playing in busy situations but is still not in contact practice yet. It's an encouraging sign but I'm knocking him down the ranks to maybe in the 20's until he starts making contact. His Yahoo ADP is at 27.8 but with the way things stand, that is too high for an elite player recovering from a major concussion.

Ryan Whitney, Oilers - Much like Crosby but for a very different reason, Whitney has not been cleared for contact practice. Apparantly, his knee hasn't healed like it should and there's a chance he may play in the minors to bring him up to speed if things continue to develop like this. His Yahoo ADP is currently at 96.6 but I don't feel comfortable taking up any higher than a D3 or low D2, depending on how deep the league is.

Drew Doughty, Kings - Still nothing new coming from the holdout between Doughty and the Kings, which is not terribly great news. I ranked him as a #11 defenseman but I may have to knock him down a bit. His Yahoo ADP is at 30.9 which is WAY too high. However, this is not a player who's recovering from an injury so he can jump in at any time he agrees to a deal but the longer this goes, the longer it's going to hurt those who are drafting him as a top defenseman.

James Wisniewski, Blue Jackets - I've been trying to find the video of Wisniewski trying to take Cal Clutterbuck's head off but when you're suspended indefinitely, it sounds like he was pretty serious about . With head shots being frowned upon by the league lately, he may have the hammer come down on him. Keep an ear out for his punishment here within the next few days. I have him ranked #11th defenseman and his Yahoo ADP is at 123.2 so he'll likely fall in my ranks to the low teens but it won't be much in Yahoo.

Mikko Koivu and Dany Heatley, Wild - I had high hopes for Heatley this season and liked Koivu with Heatley and so far they've both done quite well with one another. I'm not moving Heatley but Koivu is ranked as a 37th forward and I would boost his rank a couple more spots there. Their Yahoo ADP is at 57.1 for Heatley and 142.5 for Koivu, which is pretty darn cheap for a guy you could get as a reserve C but he has upside to be a high C2.

Andrei Markov, Canadians - Sounds like he had a setback in his recovery from knee surgery and it sounds likely that he won't make the season opener. I had him ranked as a #17th defenseman but this news will clearly downgrade his rank to about the mid to low 20's. His Yahoo ADP is at 104.1 so I would wait to see if you could get him as your C3.

Mike Modano, Stars - I know this isn't fantasy related but as a Stars fan, I just wanted to make a quick plug to thank him for all the memories and for getting Dallas the Stanley Cup. I hope your retirement is great and we'll see you in the Hall of Fame very soon, Mo!

Just as a quick question for the audience, is there anyway to see the ESPN ADP's without joining a league? I can't seem to find it at their site. If anyone would find it, that'd be awesome since I'd like to add that to these articles before the season starts.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments and come and follow me on Twitter at @MattPTurner but be warned: the Texas Rangers have made it to the playoffs so there might be quite abit of tweeting about them!